Support Our Project

The filmmakers are committed to screening The Last Partera around the world and using the film to stimulate important discussions about pregnancy, childbirth, and midwifery as well as women’s health and women’s rights in general. The medical model of maternity care puts physicians in a hierarchical role and emphasizes invasive obstetric techniques, whereas the midwifery model is woman-centered and emphasizes the natural, inherently healthy process of birthing. Midwifery humanizes childbirth and demonstrates that empowering women as the primary agents in their healthcare decisions will enhance, rather than impede, modern medical practice.

Although recent films have depicted midwifery positively, The Last Partera will be a distinctly feminist portrayal of midwifery as a woman-centered tradition fundamentally opposite the patriarchal model of standardized maternity care. Thus, through the stories of Doña Miriam, Rebecca, and the Costa Rican women who have chosen home birth, The Last Partera will artfully present midwifery’s rootedness in women’s collective wisdom, thereby making an original contribution to the continued fight for women’s reproductive rights.

Join us in completing this beautiful and important film and bringing it to audiences in the U.S., Costa Rica, and around the world. You can become part of our team by making a tax-deductible contribution to our project through the Southern Documentary Fund. Thank you for your support.